Bong! Bong! Crono opened his eyes a crack. Bong! Bong! "What
time is it?" he groaned, glancing at his clock. It read 12:23."Great!
I slept in again!" Crono scrambled to get out of bed as his
mother poked her head inside.

"Oh, good. I didn't have to wake you. Lucca is downstairs waiting.
Oh, Crono? did you sleep in your clothes again?" she said.

"Umm? Mom, I was too tired to change last night!"

His mom gave an exasperated sigh, "What am I going to do with
you? Oh, Crono? Before you go, could you feed your cats? It's
not really good for them to starve, especially when Silver is
due with kittens."

"Yeah, I'll do it before I leave." Crono couldn't help but
smile at the memory of following his mom and two cats through
time. His mom was easy to find, but the cats had been another
matter entirely. It still seemed strange that they managed to
get into Guardia Castle and warm themselves up to Queen Leene.
Crono yawned as he stomped down the stairs.

Lucca ran up to him, looking slightly miffed about having to
wait so long. "Why can't you learn to wake up earlier or go
to bed at night?" she demanded. "Jeez, its not like it's hard
or anything, is it?"

"So says the person who is known for nodding off at the councils,"
Crono teased.

"What are you talking about? I never nod off at those meetings."

"Sure, Lucca. Whatever you say."

The two friends walked through the Market, talking about the
coming reunion. "Well, I know that Magus will probably be the
hardest to find," Lucca stated.

"The only way we'll find him is if he wants us to. Even if
we do find him, I doubt that he would want to come with us.
He's probably still looking for Schala," Crono replied.

"That and the fact that he doesn't really have a high opinion
of any of us, especially Frog."

"Yeah?"

Lucca frowned. "Something bothering you Crono?"

Crono rubbed the back of his head. "I don't know. I guess it's
still strange to know that we saved this world in under a week
and a half." he mumbled, walking over to a bench and sitting
down.

"That's not just it, is it?" Lucca questioned, taking a place
next to him.

Crono sighed. "I'm not entirely sure, Lucca. It just feels
like we missed something."

"What?" Lucca demanded. "Crono, tell me!"

"I told you that I wasn't sure Lucca! It's just a feeling that
we forgot to do something important!" he snapped back. Crono
looked up.

Lucca sighed. "You know Crono, I have that same feeling. That's
why I came up with the idea of a reunion."

"Crono! Lucca!" a young woman called, weaving her way through
the bustling people.

"Hey Marle," Lucca greeted the mischievous princess.

Marle bounced back and forth, not noticing the serious looks
on her friends' faces. "You guys were taking so long that I
got fed up with waiting. What are you guys doing here anyway?
I thought we would meet up at the Epoch!"

Before either Crono or Lucca could answer the bouncing young
woman, a Gate suddenly appeared above them and out jumped hordes
of Mystics and knights. A man, garbed in black armor and a cloak,
stepped out, his face smirking and his eyes glimmering with
a killers light.

"What the..." Crono gaped as people scrambled away from the
horde. Soon only Crono, Lucca and Marle stood before the throng.
"Ah! You must be the so called 'Warriors of Time.'" the armored
man sneered, flicking dark hair out of his eyes.

"Why would you want to know?" Crono demanded, unsheathing the
Rainbow.

The man laughed and gave them a mocking bow. "My name is Sorikis,
'Warriors'. And you," Sorikis pointed to Crono, "are Crono,
am I correct?"

"It was quite simple, girl. And what I mean by souvenir is
this. From countless dimensions I have taken the strongest warriors,
usually ones that have saved their worthless planet from destruction,
and kept them as a reminder of what the world was."

"If you can use Gates, then why the hell do you need to do
that?" Crono snapped.

"Because the planet I take them from won't be there. When I
take a Warrior from a planet, there is no need to keep it around
with the weak population on it."

"You bastard! You would kill millions of innocents like that?"

"I already have."

Anger burned deep within Crono. Before he could stop himself,
he called up his strongest ability: Luminare. The air crackled
with energy and a huge, electrified dome encircled the now startled
army. A light flashed and the dome receded, revealing the burnt
corpses and a small, shallow crater. Sorikis was nowhere to
be seen. Crono gasped, the hardly-used spell taking its toll
on him. Laughter echoed about them and Sorikis reappeared.

"Yes, that proves that you are the most powerful." Sorikis
extended his arm and a dark light flickered about his glove.
"Now it's time for you to come along."

A similar light suddenly surrounded Crono and he began to rise.
"No!" he cried, struggling against the powerful spell.

"Don't fight, boy," Sorikis sneered. "You'll only make it worse
for yourself."

"Marle! MegaAntipode!" Lucca yelled.

Both girls called up their abilities.

"Powers of Fire!" Lucca chanted.

"Powers of Water!" Marle chanted.

"Merge together to defeat the one before us!" they cried in
unison, directing the spell at Sorikis.

"Humph. What weaklings." Sorikis stood as the elemental spell
roared towards him. The blast hit him head on, flickering red
and ice blue. Once again Sorikis laughed at the shocked teenagers.
"This is beginning to tire me." Sorikis clenched his fist, causing
the spell about Crono to contract. Crono screamed as his body
was slowly crushed. "Now if you want him dead, then attack.
If not..."

"Stop! Don't kill him!" Marle cried. Sorikis smiled.

"Then I shall be on my way." Smirking, Sorikis and Crono disappeared.

Marle fell to her knees and started to cry. "CRONO!"

Chapter 2

Crono screamed, his body thrashing on the altar. Sorikis smirked
at the boy, and twisted the spell about him tighter. Another
ragged scream was ripped from Crono's throat. The armored man
seized a handful of Crono's wild hair and jerked the boy's face
to his. "Will you stop this resistance and accept the privilege
that you've been given?"

"R... rot... in... hel... l..." came the hoarse reply. Sorikis
snarled and smashed Crono's face back into the black stone.

"You don't seem to realize the situation you're in..." Sorikis
motioned to a Knight. "Take him back to his cell."

The Knight saluted and dragged the limp form through the massive
doors and down towards the dungeon.

***

Taban sighed. Two days ago, Lucca had come home in tears and
shut herself in her room and wouldn't come out, not even to
eat. His wife was getting more and more worried. Taban finished
the present he was working on for Lucca and climbed the steps
to her room.

"Lucca?" he called through her door. No reply.

"Lucca?" he tried again. Frustrated, Taban attempted to open
the door. It was locked.

"Lucca, if you don't open this door then you're going to find
it in splinters in your room." he threatened. A slight scuffling
noise came and the door was reluctantly opened. Taban stepped
inside and looked at his daughter sadly. The days she kept herself
cooped up had run her ragged, and signs of relentless crying
showed on her face. Taban pulled her into a rough embrace. "Lucca...
please tell me what's wrong. I want to help you with whatever
it is."

Lucca shivered. "Dad, you can't help, nobody can..."

"Now this can't be my daughter talking! Not the girl who'd
run into impossible things and solve them. Not the one who'd
solved how Marle got sucked into the Gate and figured out how
to open them!"

"This time it's really impossible! It's not like what happened
with Marle! Nothing compares with what happened."

Taban forced his daughter to look at him. "Lucca, tell me what
happened." Pain flashed over Lucca's face and she burst out
crying. "He took him! We couldn't do anything to stop him!"

"What do you mean? Who's 'him'? And who took him away?" Lucca
recapped what had happened in the Market.

"Oh... Lucca..." Taban hugged her even tighter. "You'll get
him back... You, Marle and the others can get him back. Don't
give up, once you do that you'll lose everything that you love.
Haven't I told you that when you first started inventing all
of your gadgets? Crono's counting on you to get him out of there,
don't let him down!"

Lucca wiped at her face. "You... you're right. But Marle and
I can't do it alone..."

"What about Glenn, Robo, Ayla, and Magus? Wouldn't they help
you?"

"Probably... except Magus..."

"Does that matter? Get the help from the people you know! Lucca,
I didn't raise you to hold back at anything you do. Crono's
waiting! Go help him!"

"Yes... Yes!" Lucca pushed herself away from her father's strong
embrace and leapt for the door. Taban followed her down the
steps and grabbed his new invention.

"Lucca!" he yelled as her hand closed about the door handle.
She turned and caught a brand new gun as it was tossed to her.
Fire's Penalty was engraved across the barrel.

"Dad...?"

Taban laughed. "Think you'll need a better weapon than the
one you have to beat this Sorikis, Lucca. Use it to punish him
for all that he's done."

"Thanks, Dad!" Lucca called as she sped out the door and sped
towards the Epoch.

Chapter 3

The wind howled through the jungle. A lone figure shivered
by the light of their fire, drawing their cloak tighter about
their shoulders. The person cocked their head as if listening
to someone.

"You're angry. Just like before..." The person shook their
head. "But... they'll probably stop whatever it is. I trust
them." The wind blew harder about the slight person, causing
the fire to dance in its fury. "Don't yell. Yes, they nearly
gave up but you have to take into account what they've been
through. His 'death' disheartened them."

The person paused as the wind whirled about. "'Go with them'?
...I can't... Fate is taking too much control now. I have to
stay here in the El Nido region... But..." The wind once more
became fierce and this time it put the fire out. The person
sighed. "Yes, I swore fealty to you. But I am not going to walk
the same path as the Reptiles." The wind quieted slightly as
the figure leaned back against a tree.

"Very well. I shall go to help your Warriors. 'Your soul and
flesh are to obey the orders of the Planet,' as decreed by the
Heavens to the Elfin race. I cannot go against what the Heavens
have commanded."

***

Marle grumbled as someone tried to shove her awake. The girl
cracked an eye open to see Ayla grinning down at her. "Up! Now!
Sun rise!" Marle groaned up at the primitive woman, grudgingly
sitting up. Rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, the young woman
got up and looked about the campsite. Glenn, noticing that the
girl was still groggy, chuckled and turned back to polishing
his sword. Lucca, leaning against a tree, forced a smile in
Marle's direction.

"How long have we been running around for clues now? Does anybody
remember?" the young princess sighed, rubbing her temples. Glenn
frowned.

"It shouldst almost be two whole months by, Marle." Glenn brushed
his hair out of his eyes.

"No worry! We find Crono! Me promise!" Marle smiled sadly and
nodded. Ayla smiled encouragingly and sat back down by the fire
pit. Lucca nodded and twirled her new gun in her hands.

"What haven't we done? We went to the End of Time, but Gaspar
didn't know how Sorikis opened the Gates. The computers in the
future didn't have anything," Lucca scowled at this, "and now
we're at a dead end!"

"Stop insult! Show self now!" Ayla bellowed. The woman, who
had been scanning the trees while the conversation went on,
jumped up into the branches of a nearby tree. There was a slight
startled yelp and the leaves shook and swayed. Ayla dropped
out of the dense foliage, landing hard on her side. Another
form dropped out of the tree, but landed much more gracefully
than the other. Ayla scrambled to her feet as the others eyed
down the stranger. The stranger was heavily cloaked, their face
hidden deep within the hood. However, the newcomer was clearly
female. A thick staff was held casually in a gloved hand and
a large bag was slung over the opposite shoulder.

"That was a little unexpected. Now I see why the planet chose
all of you to destroy Lavos." The woman laughed. Glenn's eyes
narrowed.

"How dost thou knowest about that Demon?"

"All servants of the planet know about it, and how all of you
destroyed it, Sir Knight." The woman dropped the bag and leaned
her staff against a tree.

"Who are you? Why are you here?" Marle demanded. "Can you help
us get Crono back?"

"Yes, your Highness, I can help you. That's the whole reason
I came. Now, as to who I am..." The woman pulled back the hood
of her cloak. The stranger's features were seemingly fragile,
her ears delicately pointed. Silver hair gently framed the woman's
face and her blue eyes were serious, despite the laughter in
her voice. "My name is Teisha Jesher, the last surviving Elf
of this planet."

***

"Shut up!" Crono huddled in the corner of his small cell, hands
over his ears. His clothing was ragged and caked with dirt.
Crono looked no less better. His body had deteriorated over
the course of the months, becoming emaciated from lack of food.

/Why? It's true... your 'friends' left you here. They didn't
even try to come and take you back./

Crono shook his head violently, his hands tightening in the
attempt to shut out the voice echoing in his head. "...no...you
lie!" The laughter echoed. Crono shivered. Sorikis had been
doing this for what seemed like forever. Every time the voice
spoke to him, it was like he was losing a part of himself. The
madman tainted everything he touched.

/Why would I lie? See for yourself./

Crono shut his eyes tightly, yet he knew that he would still
see it. The visions he was forced to watch made his gut wrench
in hopelessness. He saw his friends talking; laughing even,
on how it was better that he was gone. Crono knew it wasn't
real, but that didn't make it hurt any less.

"Get out of my head!" Crono screamed.

***

Sorikis smiled. The boy was nearing his breaking point. He
would have to put the third stage into motion. It wouldn't be
long after that when he would have the boy under his control.
Everything was going as planned.

Someone knocked on the door. Sorikis frowned. "Enter."

A Knight entered and saluted to his Lord. "Milord, we've got
a report on where the other 'Warriors' are."

Sorikis snorted. "They are not worth my time. Leave."

"Milord... an Elf has just joined them."

Sorikis whirled about, anger emanating from the man. "Impossible!
They were all destroyed with that Zealian Kingdom!"

"The scouts specifically reported that an Elf met with the
'Warriors' and..."

The Knight flinched slightly as his Lord blasted a nearby vase
with his magic. "Quiet fool!" Sorikis paced the room, a scowl
on his features. "Did you bring the scout's memory crystal?"
The Knight nodded and pulled out a clear, fist sized orb. Sorikis
took the crystal from the Knight and tapped into its magic lines.

The meeting of the "Warriors" and Teisha Jesher played out
before the two men. Sorikis's eyes narrowed. "A High Elf. By
demons, how did one survive?!" The Knight shook his head, hoping
that his Lord would not take his anger out on him. Sorikis turned
back to the Knight. "Bring me Ceran. I want to have a word with
him about his 'termination' of the Elfin race."

The Knight bowed and hastily left the room. Sorikis began pacing
once more, brooding on the change of events. "Even with the
Elf's aid, they won't be able to get here in time to stop me.
However... this Elf must be dealt with... and that failure Ceran
must be punished..."

***

Author's Notes: Sorry to have kept you all waiting for this
chapter! (ducks various thrown objects.) Okaaay... I'll take
that as a hint to write faster... Now, onto what's going on
in the beginning! No, Teisha does not have mental problems.
She just talks with the planet a lot. (If that made any sense
to you, good.) I didn't feel like putting the planet's actual
words in so that's left up to your imagination. Moving on...
Crono seems to be suffering from what I call "Cloud Syndrome."
Well, when a character is hearing voices and clutching their
head, it seems to remind me of what Cloud went through! (Cloud
sweatdrops and thwacks Kyuohki across her head.) ^_^;; Anyways...
I know that I said that there would be some fighting but I think
I need to get more story in before I do that! Sorry! ^_^;;;
So, for all you kind and wonderful people who actually read
my stuff, here's my email: